


Lab Partners

by Dorkinatrix



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cassandra - Freeform, Cassarian, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Romance, Varian - Freeform, relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22978651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dorkinatrix/pseuds/Dorkinatrix
Summary: One year after the final episode of Rapunzel’s tangled adventure, Varian discovers Cassandra’s hermit shack in the woods.  Here Cassandra is experimenting with the same dangerous dark magic that turned Zhan Tiri into an immortal demon.  She can’t make her transformation alone, though.  She’ll need a human sacrifice…eh hem…I mean lab partner.Cassandra/Varian.  Because I ship it.  Rated T for blood, violence, cutting, and darker themes in later chapters.
Relationships: Cassandra/Varian (Disney: Tangled)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 96
Collections: Favorite Romance Fics, Romance Fanfics, Villainous (Cartoon)





	1. Chapter 1

The battle against the demon, Zhan Tiri, took its tool on The Kingdom of Corona, even after the monster was banished to the dimension of horrors. Though the massive black spikes had disappeared along with the demon, the holes that they left in nearly every building remained. Citizen worked hard around the clock to repair the extensive property damage. And, as they did so, they cursed the evil witch who had wrought this devastation upon their kingdom. 

“Ay, the witch, Cassandra brought this upon us, curse her to hell along with that monster she summoned. I hope she never comes back to seek her revenge,” one of the citizens grumbled as he pushed a heavy wheel barrel full of bricks toward a bustling construction site. 

“There’s no reason to worry about her. She’s not a threat to us without her powers,” the citizen’s burly companion scoffed jovially as he surveyed the huge hole in the side of the village school building, “Comes back to seek her revenge…HA! For her sake, I hope she has the good sense to never return!”

Varian, who was in charge of overseeing much of the kingdom’s restoration, overheard this conversation. It made him think about Cassandra and the way that she had fled from the kingdom after the defeat of Zhan Tiri, without saying a word to anyone. Something about the way she’d just left like that didn’t sit right with him.

“They say that she’s in the woods still…and that she lures young men to their deaths with her wicked song,” Varian heard one of the men on the construction site mention conversationally. From on top of his horse, Varian could see the gossiping workers clearly. And though Varian doubted the accuracy of this statement himself, he could tell by the looks on the workers’ faces, that they took the threat of Cassandra’s continued existence quite seriously. 

Varian recalled Cassandra’s intense dagger-like eyes for a moment; the coils of her dark hair. He recalled his first real conversation with her at the science fair, then, the moment when he had almost crushed her to death in the palm of his giant robot.

Varian rode his horse along the cobblestone path, past construction site, after devastated construction site. As he did so, he remembered the time that Cassandra had taken him hostage. He thought about her now, and as he did so, he was overcome by a vivid daydream, her frightening eyes glared daggers at him as he attempted to talk her down from her villainous rampage. She broke the black stone restraints off of his wrists with her mind and told him to stay out of her way. 

“Yeah, I saw her, I did. The witch, Cassandra, she’s in the woods alright,” one of the men from the construction site said.

Overhearing this, Varian rode his horse over to this man and interjected:

“You saw Cassandra?”

“Oy, I saw the witch, she lurks in the woods just outside of the kingdom, seeking her victims,” the man replied matter-of-factly.

“But specifically _where_ did you see her?” Varian asked very seriously, then, so that the worker would not suspect him of having ulterior motives for wanting to find Cassandra, he added: “I…uh…I’m the royal guard’s tech and weapons expert so….I have to know these kinds of things…you know, potential threats and stuff. For the safety of the kingdom.”

The worker nodded and proceeded to inform Varian about the location where he had spotted Cassandra with as much detail as he could muster. 

…

That night, Varian returned home, where his father, Quirin, was tending the garden.

“Hey, Dad?” Varian inquired in a slightly troubled voice, as the much larger man worked to soften a patch of dense soil with the point of his shovel. 

“Yes, Varian?”

“If I were to tell you that Cassandra was um…maybe lurking in the woods around the kingdom…what would you say?” Varian inquired nervously.

Quirin dropped his shovel and straightened up, turning toward Varian with an exhausted sigh. 

“Don’t tell me you want to go looking for her,” Quirin deduced easily, as he was quite familiar with his son’s eccentricities, and knew all too well about the young man’s troubling crush on Cassandra.

“I want to go looking for her,” Varian confirmed succinctly.

“I thought you were over this, Varian,” Quirin sighed exhaustedly.

“I thought I was too but it’s just…you know Cassandra and me…we have a lot in common, Dad. I’m sure she’s going through a lot of the same stuff that I was um…after my own brush with the law, you know. Maybe it would be irresponsible of me to just let her be out there on her own. Maybe what she really needs right now is a friend,” Varian said. 

“Varian, you know that I’m very proud of everything that you’ve accomplished. You’re an exceptionally intelligent lad, and your scientific breakthroughs have improved the lives of Corona’s citizen ten fold…but when it comes to things like this, I’m afraid, you just don’t know what you’re talking about. Cassandra is gone. And that’s a good thing. She’s very dangerous. Let her stay gone. Don’t invite another disaster,” Quirin advised. 

“Oh come on, Dad,” Varian insisted, grinning a bucked tooth grin and cocking his eyebrow jauntily, “Dangerous is nothing I can’t handle. And besides…I need a date to the royal wedding.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, son. But you’re the royal guard’s tech and weapons expert. You can do better,” Quirin said, and, as an afterthought, he added: “Why not take that Hope girl? She seems nice.”

“I think that given everything we’ve all been through together, Cassandra should be at the wedding. She might just need some moral support, you know, a little push in the right direction. But I’m sure that deep down she really wants to go to Rapunzel’s wedding…she’s probably just afraid that people wouldn’t welcome her there…That’s why I want to do this…I should try to make her feel welcome again, the way that Rapunzel made me feel welcome again after prison and the Saporian take over,” Varian said. 

Quirin shook his head in a troubled way and sighed deeply.

“Son, forget this foolishness. I forbid you to go looking for her,” Quirin said with frustration and authority. 

Angered by his father’s patronizing tone, Varian blurted out defiantly:

“Well, you can’t tell me what to do anymore! I’m a grown man!”

“Then, act like one!” Quirin shouted back angrily. 

“You always do this. You always treat me like an idiot kid that can’t handle himself! I think I’ve more than proven myself competent! How many times exactly am I suppose to prove myself to you?”

  
“Varian…,” Quirin sighed, “It’s not that I think you’re not competent…it’s just that…”

“It’s just that _what_?” Varian demanded.

“I know you, Varian. You have a temper and a dark side, and…”

“And _what_?”

“And I just don’t think that it’s a good idea for you to go perusing a woman who might…bring out that side in you again,” Quirin explained in a cautious, resigned voice, because he knew very well that Varian would not listen.

Varian groaned and rolled his eyes.

“I’m just saying that she’s a bit of a bad influence,” Quirin added cautiously, “Maybe take Hope to the royal wedding instead? She’s a nice girl. Even tempered, agreeable, and she’s an excellent cook, so I’ve heard.”

“What exactly are you afraid of, Dad, huh? Can you tell me that?” Varian inquired suspiciously. 

“You know I don’t like to see you hurt, son. Cassandra’s more trouble than she’s worth.”

“Cassandra wouldn’t hurt me,” Varian assured him.

“It’s just that I don’t want to see you…get led astray again,” Quirin pleaded a little hopelessly, because he knew very well that Varian would not listen.

“That’s not going to happen,” Varian assured him.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day, Varian saddled his horse and rode it to wilderness at the outskirts of the kingdom.

He dismounted from the horse as he entered the deeper, darker part of the woods, where the trees were very close together and the horse could not follow. There was a narrow, winding river here, which Varian followed. The man from the village had said that “the witch” had “appeared to him” near this particular land mark, so Varian felt like it was a good place to begin his search. 

He put on his goggles and adjusted their metal rims, setting them to night vision mode so that they would pick up heat signatures in the dark. The quiet stillness was creepy, and slightly tense. He felt himself sneaking along, even though there wasn’t much reason to. The woods seemed to be desolate. Still, he flinched when his boots snapped a twig or crunched too loudly on leaves. 

As he crept forward through the forest, he thought about Cassandra. He could not help but think of her. She was so beautiful and tall and confident, and even though she had repeatedly rebuked his romantic affections, he could not deny that he remained completely and irrefutably enamored with her. He reminded himself, silently, that whether or not Cassandra returned his affections should not matter. 

_Whatever her feelings about me are, she’s still a friend in need, and that should be motivation enough,_ Varian reprimanded himself internally as he was pestered by persistent fantasies of Cassandra embracing him with open arms, kissing him on the mouth, and proclaiming loudly that he was her hero for coming to rescue her from the loneliness of her self-imposed exile. 

_Oh, Varian! I’m so glad to see you_!, the Cassandra of Varian’s imagination proclaimed uncharacteristically, mussing his dark hair with unbridled affection. _I missed you so much! I thought that everybody forgot about me, but I’m so happy that you cared enough to come!_

Varian shook his head and chuckled at his own foolishness at that thought. The real Cassandra was not at all likely to have that reaction to his impromptu visit. Perhaps inwardly she would be grateful, but outwardly she would probably be gruff and rude and pretend like she didn’t want the company. Which, was just fine by Varian, who was determined to break though some of Cassandra’s emotional walls and convince her that she should attend the royal wedding with him, at the very least, as friends.

Again, Varian found himself recounting the incident in which Cassandra had taken him hostage, and used him as bait to lure in Rapunzel. The incident had taken place after Varian’s imprisonment for his crimes against Corona, and before Cassandra was stripped of the moonstone’s destructive power. Varian pictured Cassandra’s hair and eyes, which, at the time, had been blue and glowing due to the moonstone’s enchantment. He remembered the feeling of her delicate hands on him as she dumped his barely conscious body onto her horse, forced truth serum down his throat, then, tied him to a rock and forced him to reveal the secrets of the magic scroll. Perhaps it was a little sick that he was fetishising that experience now, but he could not help but grin a bit when he thought of that. 

Moving forward though the dark woods, Varian recalled the brief time that he spent as a captive in Cassandra’s tower stronghold. The memory filled him with a fresh sense of determination. And he reminded himself that Cassandra _did_ need him. She pretended like she didn’t need anyone, but that was just an act, she definitely _did_ need somebody. Everybody needs somebody. 

…

One Year Ago

After the tower of black rocks was forged by the magic of the scroll, Cassandra laughed heartily and surveyed her new stronghold with satisfaction. Varian, pulled at the black shackles that bound his wrists, and watched her apprehensively. She approached him, scowling, and he took an instinctive step backward, biting his lip nervously as he did so. 

“I don’t want to hurt you,” Cassandra confessed to him in a very serious tone, “So when Rapunzel comes to rescue you…you better stay out of my way.”

The black stone shackles on Varian’s wrists shattered by Cassandra’s will, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Varian massaged his stiff, sore wrists and muttered:

“Ouch.”

“I’m sorry,” Cassandra said, sounding genuine in her apology, “I couldn’t have you escaping. But now that we’re up here. Ha. Good luck.”

“So, you’re just giving me free reign of the place?” Varian inquired skeptically

“Well, yeah, I guess so. Just try not to annoy me too much, or I might have to shove you out of a window,” Cassandra said, “I mean…I’m not going ask how you went from trying to kill the royals and overthrow the monarchy, to being Rapunzel’s lap dog again…because obviously…I don’t care.”

There was silence for a moment, during which Cassandra and Varian stared at each other awkwardly. The silence was broken and Cassandra amended her previous statement:

“…But…I mean, I guess… I actually am going to ask you that question, because we’ve got time to kill.”

“Cassandra…what happened to you while you were away?” Varian inquired of Cassandra very seriously. The blue glow in Cassandra’s hair and eyes was new, as were her magical abilities, certainly. But what he was really curious about was Cassandra’s changed attitude toward Rapunzel and the monarchy. The last time he had spoken to Cassandra, Rapunzel was her best friend. And now Cassandra wasted Rapunzel dead? Why? Cassandra’s motivations perplexed him. 

“The moonstone revealed the truth to me…,” Cassandra responded cryptically.

“Yeah, but what does that mean?”

“I don’t have to explain myself to you,” Cassandra muttered darkly, “I’m going to kill the princess and take back what is rightfully mine. That’s all you need to know about me.” 

“Fine…fine…ok…that’s fair…but I really think that you should reconsider this, Cassandra,” Varian said, “Just think about this…for a moment, before you do something that you might regret. Is killing Rapunzel really going to make you happy in the end? Is that really what you want?”

“You know, it’s funny. The last time that we spoke, you wanted her dead too,” Cassandra pointed out sarcastically. 

“Ha…yeah…that’s uh…that’s a funny story, actually,” Varian replied nervously, stumbling for words. A dull flush tinted his freckled face as she narrowed her luminous eyes at him.

“A funny story, huh?” Cassandra mocked, “Well go ahead, science boy, _make me laugh._ ”

Varian sat down on one of the large, dark rocks, which littered the stone room. Then, recounted the tale of his fall from grace, for Cassandra, in its entirety. Cassandra listened with a troubled expression, bordering on compassion, and then, started talking to herself in an unsettling way: “No…he’s an idiot but…I’m telling you, no…No. I’m not going to do that. Stop it. I don’t want to hurt him. There’s no reason to. He’s not the one we’re after…”

“Um…who are you talking to, Cassandra?” Varian asked worriedly.

“Nobody. Don’t worry about it.”

“Uh, right so…where was I…after I broke out of prison, I helped the Saporians overthrow the kingdom…looking back, I don’t know why I did it…I was just so hurt and angry…and I wanted somebody to pay…I thought that it would make me feel better. But it didn’t. After it was done, I just felt even worse,” Varian said.

“And let me guess, when Rapuzel came to knock you off your high horse, you wound up talking your feelings at her, just like you’re doing with me, right now?” Cassandra said with a snort of derisive laughter, “Is it any wonder that you lost the kingdom?”

“Cassandra, Rapunzel forgave my crimes against the kingdom with a full royal pardon! She’ll do the same for you if you just come back to Corona and apologize!” Varian insisted earnestly. He stood and grabbed one of Cassandra’s gloved hands, squeezing it slightly in his. Cassandra was caught of guard for a moment, and the shadow of a flush crossed her cheeks. Then, she shrugged off Varian’s touch with a petulant eye roll and pulled her hand away.

“So, you lost because you’re a loser. Surprise, surprise,” Cassandra muttered.

“Please, Cassandra,” Varian said, walking over to her, “I understand what you’re going through right now, believe me I get it. I’ve been there. And I just think that…maybe before you go through with this…you should talk about why you really want to do this with someone…someone who will listen to you. I uh…well…I would listen…if you want to tell me about it…”

Cassandra looked into Varian’s pleading blue eyes, and, for a moment her expression softened. 

“You want to hug it out?” Varian asked cautiously, extending his arms slightly as though to invite an embrace.

“You know what…I think you’re annoying me. It’s time to shove you out the window like I promised earlier,” Cassandra growled angrily. Then, she grabbed Varian’s narrow shoulders and shoved him violently against the wall. 

Now pinned between the glowering woman, and a wall of black stone, Varian cowered and his heart pounded in his chest. Her face was level with his now, and he flushed as her glowing eyes stared into his large blue ones, with a voracious, primal, rage, bordering on madness. 

“I’m not like you, Varian. I won’t loose,” Cassandra said in a quiet dangerous voice, “But that’s fine though…be as pathetic as you want…so, maybe the Coronans beat that rebellious streak out of you in prison; makes no difference to me. I’ve got plenty of my own power. And I can do this myself.”

“Except you can’t though, because you needed me to translate the scroll,” Varian pointed out unwisely. 

“Nobody likes a little smart ass, Varian.”

“Yeah, well, like it or not, the fact is that _you need me_ ,” Varian said with increased confidence, pulling Cassandra’s hands off of his shoulders and taking an aggressive step forward. 

“Shut up, no I don’t.”

“Yeah, but you do though.”

“Ok, fine so I used you for the scroll translation, and now I’m using you as bait. But after that, I’m done with you for good,” Cassandra said angrily.

“Yeah, you say that now, but I know how this goes. You’ll need me again,” Varian said with confidence.

At a loss for words, Cassandra’s dangerous scowl flickered and she took a step backward, her mouth falling open with impotent incredulity.

…

Present Day

Varian crept forward in the dark woods, distracted by his memories of Cassandra. Then, he was violently jarred out of his musings as something tightened around his ankle and he was pulled up, off of the ground, and into the tree. Now hanging upside down by his ankle, he watched helplessly as a threatening, hooded figure approached.

“H-hello? Who’s there!” Varian stammered fearfully as the hooded figure withdrew a knife from its belt and brandished it menacingly at him, “P-please don’t kill me!”

The hooded figure pulled off its hood, as an owl landed on its shoulder.

“It’s me, you idiot,” Cassandra chided dryly. In the absence of the moonstone’s power, her glowing blue hair had returned to its original raven tint. Her eyes were brown again and they glared at him with fierce intensity.

Varian shivered as Cassandra cut the rope that he was dangling from and he feel back down to the forest floor. He whimpered and stood up shakily, brushing dried leaves off of his bruised knees. 

“ _Why_ did you follow me out here?” she demanded in a frustrated, hushed tone.

“I just…I heard that you might be out here…so I decided to drop by and say hi…you know, just in case you’re lonely,” Varian explained himself nervously, flashing her what he hoped was his sweetest buck-toothed smile of comradery.

“Well, _I’m not_ ,” Cassandra answered him harshly, “So, _get lost_.”

“Oh, come on Cassandra,” Varian improved good-naturedly, “Didn’t you miss me just a little tiny bit at least?”

“ _No_ ,” Cassandra answer him bluntly, “I like living in the woods by myself, thank you, and I don’t need any of Rapunzel’s spies to come out here trying to see what I’m up to.”

“I’m not a spy, I swear,” Varian assured her. 

“Oh, really,” Cassandra muttered skeptically, “You mean Rapunzel didn’t send you out here to keep an eye on me?”

“Rapunzel doesn’t even know I came out here,” Varian told her.

Cassandra narrowed her eyes at him distrustfully, and then, started shuffling off into the distance. Varian sprinted awkwardly after her, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did so. 

“Cassandra…do you remember what I said to you when you were possessed by the power of the moonstone, and you were holding me hostage in your tower?” Varian asked.

Cassandra turned to stare at him. Then, hazarded a guess, mocking his voice as she did so: “Go back to Corona and apologize to Rapunzel blah blah blah…I’m a big dork who failed as villain and went to prison blah blah blah.”

“Ha…yeah…I guess I did kind of say that. But what else did I say?” Varian asked with a hopeful smile, as though expecting her to recall this piece of information. 

“What does it matter what you said? You lost your nerve. You lost the game,” Cassandra taunted, “But I guess I’m just as lame as you are now, so what does it matter?”

“Cassandra,” Varian said very seriously, before reaching out and boldly grabbing one of her hands in his. She flushed slightly and flinched away from his touch, but he held on tight. “Don’t you remember…I said that you’d _need me_ again.”

Hearing these words, Cassandra laughed in cynical but hearty way. She threw back her head and guffawed for such a long time that it was genuinely unsettling. When she was done laughing at him, Varian was expecting Cassandra to argue with him or possibly even insult him again, but, to his surprise, she did not do either of these things. 

Instead, she smiled at him and said:

“You know what, Varian, as irony would have it, you’re absolutely right.”

“Wait…what? I am?” Varian replied with confusion, he loosened his grip on Cassandra’s hand, but was surprised to find that she did not withdraw from him after he did that. Instead, she laced her fingers in between his and grinned in a slightly mischievous way.

“There’s a little project that I’m working on right now that you might be able to help me with,” Cassandra said, “You do want to help me, right?”

“Um, yeah, of course I do!” Varian agreed enthusiastically, hardly daring to believe his luck. 

“But it’s not for the faint of heart. And you’ll have to be pretty tough to accomplish this task. Do you think you have what it takes, Varian?” Cassandra asked cryptically.

“Yeah, anything you want, Cass. I just want to help you,” Varian said.

Hearing this Cassandra’s mischievous grin broadened and she said: “I’m not just sitting out here eating dirt and stacking twigs, you know. I’m on the cusp of discovering the secret to ultimate power and eternal life…but…to accomplish this goal…I’ll need a…a…eh hem…a _lab partner_.”


	3. Chapter 3

Varian followed Cassandra into a dilapidated old building. The inside of the structure was sparsely furnished but surprisingly homey, with a scattering of dark furniture, and a large, lit fireplace. An array of different axes, swords, maces and other sharp weaponry hung on the log walls. Beside the fireplace, a crude wooden table was covered from end to end with test tubes, books, scrolls, quills, and jars of spooky ingredients. 

Cassandra’s owl flew into the room and landed on a wooden perch by one of the dark sofa’s, hooting softly. Cassandra removed her hooded cloak and hung it on one of the pegs by the door. 

“Wow…this is uh…actually surprisingly pretty nice,” Varian commented awkwardly in order to break the silence. 

“It was my mother’s place. It’s been abandoned for a long time, but it’ll do for my purposes just fine,” Cassandra said.

Varian immediately wandered over to Cassandra’s work table, and surveyed its contents with interest. He noticed the test tubes and bowls first, then, the lit black candles and jars of rat skulls, newt eyes, black flowers, chicken feet, beetle exoskeletons, and crystals. Varian wasted no time, and eagerly grabbed a page of Cassandra’s hastily scrolled notes, reading through them quickly, before she even had time to tell him that he should mind his own business and keep his hands off of her stuff.

“Huh…,” he murmured thoughtfully, turning to the next page of Cassandra’s hastily scribbled notes, they were mostly incantations scrawled in what appeared to be red ink. 

“So…what do you think, science boy? Do you think you can make this work?” Cassandra inquired dryly.

“I don’t know, Cassandra…these are really unstable forces that you’re trying to tinker with here. You could even say…sinister forces,” Varian observed, “It’s probably illegal to be attempting this at all.”

“Oh, don’t be such a goody-two-shoes,” Cassandra teased, “You of all people should know that these kinds of endeavors are not without risks. And besides, haven’t you ever wanted to _cure death_ , Varian? Conquer the destructive forces of nature?”

“This could go very wrong,” Varian pointed out doubtfully, flipping through another page of Cassandra’s sloppy red notes. 

“You’re being too negative. Don’t think about what could go wrong so much, Varian. Think about what could _go right_. We could put an end to suffering with this incantation, we could eradicate disease, put an end to natural disasters. You’re a man of science, right? With the ultimate power of this ageless demon at our disposal…I…I mean _we_ …we could do basically _anything._ Just think about the possibilities!”

“Hm…well, when you put it like that…how could I possibly say no?” Varian conceded with a slightly nervous grin. 

“That’s the spirit,” Cassandra congratulated him heartily, clapping him on the back in a gesture of grateful comradery. Varian’s nervous grin persisted awkwardly and his freckled face flushed crimson for a moment. 

“Uh, Cass…,” Varian inquired cautiously, his nervous grin faltering, as he surveyed the sloppy red ink that his lab partner had scrawled her notes in suspiciously. “Are these research notes…written in _blood_?”

“Yeah, well, the ancient text says something about the incantation needing to be written in blood,” Cassandra said, then, she added hastily: “But _don’t worry_! Most of this is mine.”

Cassandra removed her gloves in order to display her bandaged fingers. Varian narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.

“What do you mean _most of it_ is yours?” he probed apprehensively.

Cassandra laughed in a slightly nervous way that was a bit unsettling. Then said:

“Try not to worry about it too much.”

It was not in Varian’s nature to stop asking questions, for any reason. So, he persisted.

“Cass, what do you mean _most of it_ is yours?” he asked again, more forcefully this time.

“Ok, ok, _fine_ …I guess I might as well just tell you. I’ve tried this ritual a bunch of times with my own blood already. And I’m beginning to think that for some reason… _my_ blood isn’t doing the trick. I’m not exactly sure why though. Everything else in the summoning spell seems to be working fine. But when I add the blood incantation, for some reason, it always stops. So I’ve been trying different kinds of blood. I started with animal blood, but that doesn’t work at all. I got better results with human blood, a few purple sparks…and a presence, I think… but nothing came after that…so that blood must not be quite right for this ritual either.”

“Ok, so wait, wait, wait…let me make sure I’ve got this straight. You’re using _human blood_ in these experiments? Where are you getting it from?” 

“I’ve been luring people into the woods in order to bleed them for this experiment,” Cassandra confirmed bluntly.

“So the rumors are true,” Varian gasped in surprise.

“You better not run back to town and rat on me,” Cassandra muttered with some disdain, crossing her arms defensively as she did so.

“No…I wasn’t going to,” Varian assured her, “It’s just that…is that what you needed me for? My blood?”

“Well, I’m not a monster, Varian. I won’t take it unless you offer it willingly,” Cassandra said, but he could tell by the look in her eyes and the tautness of her brow that not all of her test subjects had offered their blood “willingly.” At this moment, it was not difficult to picture her harvesting the ingredient from a struggling victim who had unwittingly become tangled in one of her rope traps. 

Varian exhaled nervously and muttered with apprehension, “Oh boy…”

The rational part of himself, the part of himself that was urging him to run away from this place and never come back, was quelled by Cassandra’s flirty grin of surprising affirmation. He flushed and grinned at her in an infatuated way as she took a step closer to him, and brushed a dark lock of his hair behind one of his ears. His heart rate picked up, and, in that moment, he knew that he did not have the will power to say no to her. 

“So what do you say, lab partner. Will you donate your blood to this experiment?” Cassandra asked innocently.

“…Yea, ok, I’ll do it. No biggie,” Varian agreed. He knew that she was using him again. It was obvious that she was using him, but she was just so pretty by the light of the crackling fireplace. He could not help but agree. 

“Well, let’s get this over with,” Cassandra muttered with a blunt shrug, talking a short dagger off of her belt and brandishing in Varian’s direction.

Varian gulped and put up his hands protectively, shaking his head vigorously as she advanced on him. 

“Wait, wait…before you take my blood. L-let’s just make sure that you’re not misinterpreting that old text! I’m fluent in a few ancient magic languages. Let me translate it again for you.”

“What, you think I read it wrong?” Cassandra asked, returning her short dagger to its holster in her belt.

“It can’t hurt to double check,” Varian said, breathing a shaky sigh of relief.

Cassandra handed him a very old, thick, and creepy-looking, leather-bound book with purple stones embedded in its peeling cover. He opened it to the page that she had bookmarked and read the ancient script carefully, pulling his goggles down over his eyes to magnify the font. 

“To call the ancient demon, one must first write the proper incantation, in the blood of a virgin, 66 times,” Varian read aloud, in order to demonstrate his advanced abilities and impress the girl. However, he almost immediately regretted not keeping the information to himself. 

“The blood of a virgin, huh? Well I guess I know now why my blood didn’t work,” Cassandra snorted jovially, “Say, Varian…you’re not _a virgin_ , are you?”

Varian’s face got red and he hesitated. Cassandra grinned mischievously, taking Varian’s long silence as her answer. 

“Perfect, now we’ve figured out what the problem is. I’ve been pouring over this for months but you just strolled in here and figured it out in like five seconds. Didn't you, science boy? I knew I could count on you,” Cassandra congratulated various with a smile. 

Varian’s flush intensified at this flattery and he choked on his own half-hearted protests as she removed the short dagger from her belt once more. Instinctively, he flattened his back against the wall and cowered as he anticipated the pain with fear. 

“You do want to do this, right?” She asked him again, when she saw the way he trembled. His large, blue eyes followed the tip of her sharp dagger with grim expectancy.

“Sorry, it’s just that I’m not tough. I hate pain,” Varian apologized quickly, “I still want to help you though. Just make it quick, please.”

Cassandra patted him on the shoulder awkwardly. Then said: “Just close your eyes. This’ll be over fast.”

Varian shut his eyes so that he wouldn’t be tempted to look at the dagger as it broke his skin. He felt Cassandra grab him by the wrist and pull his hand toward her, removing the glove. Then, he felt the tip of the dagger as it was pressed into the tip of his index finger. The cut was shallow but painful and he let out a nervous whimper as she pressed on the tip of his finger, forcing blood from his hand, into her empty ink well. 

He opened his eyes and saw the blood on his hand. Then, promptly passed out. 


	4. Chapter 4

Varian opened his eyes slowly, and discovered that he had been moved to Cassandras’ dark chaise longe, near the center of the room. Feeling a big queasy, he whimpered and touched his now-bandaged finger gingerly. 

“You ok?” Cassandra called over to him, when she noticed at he was stirring. 

He sat up and cradled his pounding head in his hands for a moment. As the disorienting dizziness faded, it was replaced by embarrassment. Cassandra must have thought he was such a wimp for not being able to take the small cut on his hand without fainting. Judging by the copious amount of bandages that covered Cassandra’s fingers, palms, and wrists, the woman had no trouble at all taking her own blood. 

“Here, have something to drink. It should help,” Cassandra said, handing Varian a flash. 

Varian sniffed the contents of the flash suspiciously, but it appeared to just be water. He lifted it to his lips and drank it down quickly. Then, exhaled shakily.

“Wow…so this is pretty embarrassing,” Varian murmured, putting the flask down on a nearby table. 

“Hey, it’s ok. Next time just maybe don’t open your eyes until I tell you to. You can just lay down while I take the blood. Then, I’ll clean off the injury and bandage it before you can see it and freak out again,” Cassandra said with a bit of a grin, as though the sight of Varian freaking out and losing consciousness amused her on some level.

“Did you get all of the blood you need for the summoning?” Varian asked groggily, touching his bandaged finger again. Then, flinching at the pain. 

“I filled my ink well, so I should be able to inscribe the incantation a few dozen times. That should give you some time to rest,” Cassandra said.

“Always happy to help,” Varian affirmed groggily. Then, he laid back down and closed his eyes. 

Looking a bit guilty, Cassandra put a blanket over him. Then, rested her hand on his forehead for a moment. 

Varian listened the floorboards creak under Cassandra’s feet and she returned to her work desk. The sound of glass vials clinking together and her scratching quill filled his ears. Every once in awhile she would stop what she was doing and say something like: “No…no…that’s not right…it must be something else.”

Varian rested for a few minutes, while Cassandra banged her hands on the desk and blurted out: “How is it that this _still_ isn’t working!”

Cassandra’s owl hooted softly. Then, leapt from its nearby perch and flew across the room, fleeing through an open window. 

Varian threw the blanket off of himself and rose to his feet, walking over to the place where Cassandra sat. She did not lift her eyes off of the page of runes that she was looking at as he approached.

“Maybe I can help,” Varian offered innocently.

“Oh yeah, and I really need _your_ help, science boy. Because I’m much too _stupid_ to figure this out on my own!” Cassandra snapped at him sarcastically, slamming the book closed and scowling petulantly in his direction.

“Ok, ok, calm down…I didn’t say that,” Varian said quickly, attempting damage control as a dangerous vein throbbed in Cassandra’s taunt forehead, “Just…what part of it were you having trouble with?”

“I’m not having trouble. I’m fine,” Cassandra said coldly, turning away from him.

“Uh…let me rephrase. What didn’t work out for you earlier?” Varian tried again.

“I tried the first step of the incantation again…with a rodent skull and the brainstem of an armadillo…but it didn’t work like it did last time. Last time it created small ring of smoke. This time… _nothing_.”

Varian examined the mess of animal parts on Cassandra’s work desk. Cassandra, looked over the runes on the bookmarked page of the old tome. Then, closed the book again and groaned audibly. 

“What does the book say about it?” Varian asked.

“Ateg, albeh torah gahl,” Cassandra responded.

“Well…according to the book. You need the skull and brainstem of a small rodent.” Varian explained.

“Yes, I read the book, genius. I know what it says.”

Varian suppressed the urge to point out the fact that she had misinterpreted the book before.

“I’ve tried every kind of squirrel and gopher and rabbit and, yes, _raccoon_. None of them work consistently,” Cassandra explained with exasperation.

“So that’s what you do out here? Run around chasing squirrels and rabbits?” Varian said with some amusement as he pictured Cassandra darting after a fleeing squirrel like some kind of a crazy forest witch. 

“My owl catches them,” Cassandra explained tiredly. 

“You know, Cass, the phrase ‘albeh torah gahl’ can mean ‘skull and brainstem of’ but it is often confused with the phrase ‘albeht torrannh gahl,’ which means ‘at the heart of the river.’”

“What?” Cassandra interjected with amazement.

“And the word ‘ateg,’ which means ‘small rodent’ can also mean ‘secret lever’

“So what you’re saying is…”

“There’s a secret lever at the heart of the river,” Varian confirmed.

“I guess I decapitated all of those squirrels for nothing,” Cassandra grumbled with annoyance. It frustrated her greatly that Varian was able to figure out want the runes were saying just by listening to her talk about what she _thought_ they might say.

Varian grinned in a slightly teasing way and said: “Go ahead. Admit it. You _need_ me. For more than just my blood.”

“I could have figured that out on my own,” Cassandra muttered humorlessly, casting the rat skull onto the floor in disgust. 

“Hey, we’re lab partners, remember? We should work together on this,” Varian said.

“You’re insufferable Varian. Has anyone ever told you that?” Cassandra groaned, standing up and walking over to the door, where she retrieved her hooded cloak from the peg on the wall.

“Insufferably… _adorable_?” Varian teased good-naturedly, “Come on, Cass, there’s no _I_ in lab partners. We’re in this together!”

Cassandra groaned and stepped through the door, out into the wilderness. Varian followed close behind, but not before grabbing the large tome off of Cassandra’s work desk.


	5. Chapter 5

Cassandra and Varian wandered the wilderness in search of rivers, and, more specifically, rivers with levers a the hearts of them, for the later half of the day. The search was pretty frustrating, and about 90% of their time was spent just walking for miles.

They talked for a long time about mundane things; people from their respective villages, the latest festival to be celebrated in The Kingdom of Corona, the restoration efforts, and so on and so forth. Varian found that they talked mostly about himself, and his new job as the royal guard’s tech and weapons expert. Cassandra was very guarded and spoke very little of her adventures, since the destruction of the moonstone and her self-imposed exile. When he asked her questions about herself she often deflected them by replying: “I don’t want to talk about that right now.” or, alternatively, “None of your business, nerd.”

It was not long until the conversation turned to Rapunzel.

“Rapunzel thinks she’s sooo much better than me,” Cassandra grumbled, mocking Rapunzel’s naïve, high-pitched voice for a moment. “ _I forgive you, Cassandra! And I’ll never give up on you!_...Just get over yourself and admit that you hate me already. But nooo…the perfect princess could never admit that she hates anybody. She’s just has to make everyone think that she’s so virtuous and pure…God forbid she display a negative emotion for more than five minutes. It just makes me so mad sometimes! She’s such a phony! And that’s the worst thing that you can be in this world, Varian. A phony.”

“Why are you still so mad at Rapunzel for anyway?” Varian asked Cassandra as the two continued to walk in the direction of the nearest river, past trees and distant mountains. 

“ _I_ …you…you wouldn’t understand…” Cassandra sighed awkwardly, stopping in her tracks and staring wistfully out over the distant meadow.

Varian took a step forward and seized Cassandra’s hands in his: “Then, make me understand, Cass.”

Cassandra was quiet for a moment, perhaps considering whether or not to trust Varian with her private, personal thoughts. His childlike face and big blue eyes made it easy to forget just how dangerous he really was. Varian flashed her a goofy, buck-toothed grin, and in that moment, she was unexpectedly robbed of her senses. In that moment, she could not help but trust him completely.

Cassandra sighed and stared off into the distance pensively. Then, tried to explain her gripe with the monarchy to Varian in the best way that she knew how: “…All of my life, I’ve had to play second fiddle to someone else. I’ve never been the most special or important one, not to my mother…and not to anyone else. So I fought…with everything that I had to be the smartest and strongest and best that I could be. But none of that ever made a difference….and Rapunzel…she never had to try, you know. Everybody loves her, everybody thinks she’s special and important and does whatever she wants them to. And she has everything…and I _hate_ her for that, Varian. Maybe that’s a selfish reason to hate someone. Maybe I don’t care. Maybe I want to be selfish for once…my life has always been about serving somebody else. But not anymore. Today, it’s finally all about me. Today, I taking back the power that Rapunzel stole from me on the day that the moonstone was destroyed. And _I_ …I mean _we_ …are summoning a power even greater Zahn Tiri ever dreamed possible, a power so great that it will bring about a new age, where Fredrick is dethroned and I rule over this kingdom, _no_ , this word, as _queen_.”

“Oh…ok…I guess I sort of get that,” Varian commiserated, after Cassandra’s true motivation for summoning the ancient demon to achieve the highest power was revealed to him, “But there’s one thing that I _don’t_ understand.”

“Oh, yeah, and what’s that?”

“How can you be jealous of Rapunzel when you’ve got it all over her?” Varian asked.

“I never said that I was _jealous_ of Rapunzel,” Cassandra scoffed insultedly.

“You didn’t have to,” Varian interrupted her quickly.

“Ok, so maybe it’s not fair that everyone thinks she’s so smart, and pretty, and such a strong, and sooo important. Maybe it’s not fair that she get’s to live in the castle and tell everybody what to do, with her stupid hot boyfriend, feeling superior to everybody, and planning parties, and eating cake, while the rest of us have to work for a living!” Cassandra shouted, “So, maybe life’s not fair and I should just get over that. But if life’s not fair, then, let me ask you something, Varian. How does it make any sense at all for _me_ to play fair!”

Seeing that Cassandra had worked herself into a spiteful frenzy, Varian attempted to calm her, squeezing both of her arms tightly and saying quickly: “Hey, hey, it’s alright, Cass. Listen to me, ok, listen to me. _You_ deserve to be happy.”

“Why should what anybody deserves really matter in the end? We get what we can take from this words and that’s all there is to it,” Cassandra responded darkly, pulling herself away from Varian and speeding up to walk a few steps ahead of him.

Varian trotted to catch up with her again. She glanced over at him disdainfully, and then, the two walked in sullen silence for a few minutes. 

The silence was broken when Cassandra sighed: “Great...I had to go and ruin this by blabbing my heart out. Now, you’ll probably run back to town and tell them all what I’m up to.”

“So, you’re not doing this to help people. You’re doing this to usurp the ruler of the kingdom. Eh, honestly I can’t say that I’m that surprised,” Varian replied with a casual shrug.

“I don’t know why I said any of that. I knew you wouldn’t understand,” Cassandra muttered.

“What I don’t understand is how someone as cool and pretty as you are can be so pathologically insecure. You may not be a princess, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t have value,” Varian said.

“I don’t want to be a princess,” Cassandra said.

“Then, what do you want exactly?” Varian said.

“Power. Lots of it,” Cassandra replied bluntly. 

“Power’s not the most important thing in life, Cass,” Varian said.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Cassandra, “You _chose_ to give up your fight against Corona’s monarchy. I _didn’t_ choose. My power was taken from me. And there was no other option after that…but to give up the fight.”

“So all those things you said about curing natural disasters and diseases with this ultimate power we’re seeking, was that just for my benefit? So that I would agree to help you?” Varian asked.

“No, I fully intend to use my powers for good. Whatever, the kingdom of Corona believes about me, I’m not a monster, Varian. I just don’t want to be powerless anymore. I want to be someone important. Someone who doesn’t just sit there, washing dishes and cleaning bed sheets, while other people make the decisions and save the day. For once, I’d like to be the one who really matters,” Cassandra said. 

“I understand how that feels, Cassandra,” Varian said.

“No you don’t,” Cassandra contradicted.

“No, I do. I really do,” Varian said, “I mean….I know what it feels like to not be taken seriously…to be ignored and underestimated, and to have something to contribute…that people take for granted or don’t really ever appreciate. When you have something to say and no one is listening…it can make you want to scream it in their faces.”

“What was that? I wasn’t listening,” Cassandra said. 

“Oh, ha ha,” Varian replied with some annoyance. 

“No really, your mouth started moving and I just kind of tuned out for a minute.”


	6. Chapter 6

As the day drew to a close, Cassandra and Varian returned to the old shack in the woods. Here, Cassandra removed her hooded cloak, and hung it on the peg by the door. Varian then announced his intention to return home for the night.

“Well…anyway. It’s getting dark. I guess I should be heading back home now,” Varian said.

He walked over toward the door, but found that Cassandra was now blocking his path. 

“Sorry, Varian, I can’t let you leave,” Cassandra said in a tone of dangerously quiet deadly seriousness. 

“Uh… _Cass?_ ” Varian replied with some alarm. He didn’t like the way her hands gripped the hilt of one of the weapons on her belt. 

“It’s nothing personal really, I just can’t risk you running back to Corona’s royal guard and telling them about my plans to attain the ultimate power and usurp Fredrick’s throne…that I stupidly told you all about. If that happens, then I’ll have to pack up my things and move my stronghold to somewhere else…and I just don’t want to do that again, Varian. I’m comfortable here,” Cassandra explained in an even tone. Then, she added, as an afterthought, “Also, I need more of your blood.”

“You can’t just hold me prisoner here, Cassandra!”

“Oh yeah? Watch me.”

“I don’t know why I agreed to help with this. What you’re doing here is obviously _dangerous_ and going to end badly!” Varian shouted angrily.

“Yeah, I figured you’d back down from this at some point,” Cassandra said, still blocking the exit of the building with her body, “So, _I took precautions_.”

“Get out of my way, Cassandra,” Varian growled, staring her down.

“ _No_ ,” Cassandra hissed defiantly. Then, she raised her hands into the air and recited a brief incantation in the old language. 

When she was finished, she casually relinquished her position in front of the door and returned to her work desk. Seeing that the door was no longer guarded, Varian bounded forward, intent on running back to town and warning the royal guard of Cassandra’s treachery. As he ran through the door, however, he did not exit the shack as he had expected to. Instead, he emerged from the closet door, at the back of the room, to the left of Cassandra’s work desk. Confused and disoriented by this startling occurrence, Varian ran through the front door two or three more times. Each time, this path lead him, not outside, but to the closet door, at the back of the room.

“You like that? I created a space time loop to keep you trapped here, until I no longer need your help with this,” Cassandra said casually, without looking up from her work notes. 

“You know, _Cassandra_ , I would find that fascinating under any other circumstance, but _this is ridiculous_!” Varian shouted. Then he ran through the door again, only to reemerge from the closet to the left of Cassandra’s work desk. 

“Oh, _come on_!” Varian shouted with frustrated.

Cassandra chuckled to herself sinisterly.

“This isn’t funny! Let me go right now Cassandra!” Varian shouted.

Cassandra rose from her chair and the sound of her snorting laughter increased in volume. Varian’s eyebrows contorted in an expression of impotent range. Cassandra pointed at his face and laughed even harder.

“You might as well just sit down and relax, nerd. You’re not leaving this place until I want you to,” Cassandra said with a triumphant smirk.

Varian grumbled a bit and resigned himself to defeat. He sat down on the dark chaise lounge and pouted, as he silently scolded himself for not expecting this. Cassandra had held him captive against his will before, after all.

Cassandra sat down in the dark chair, opposite the chaise lounge, so that she was facing Varian. 

“Hey don’t look do down, Varian. Sure I tricked you into trapping yourself here, but look on the bright side; you were _right_. Turns out I do actually need you…” Cassandra said. Through the narrow window, Varian could see that it was now dark outside. “It’s getting late. You want some dinner?”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Suit yourself.”

Cassandra rose from her chair and walked over to the fireplace. Her owl flew through the window and landed on her shoulder with a soft hoot. 

Varian listened to the soft crackling of the fireplace logs for a few moments, contemplating his situation, while Cassandra skinned a headless rabbit, impaled it on a sharp stick, and cooked it over the fire. 

Drawn by the smell of the roasting meat, Varian rose from the lounge, and walked over to Cassandra, who was sitting on the floor, in front of the fireplace, watching the rabbit shrivel over the fire. The dancing flames were reflected in her wide, wistful eyes.

“So…if this spell is successful…you’ll become,” Varian murmured contemplatively.

“An immortal sorceress with the power to raise the dead, control the weather, and bend humanity to my will,” Cassandra finished plainly, not taking her eyes off of the roasting rabbit, “Like Zahn Tiri, but better because I don’t have her fatal weakness.”

Varian sat down on the floor next to Cassandra. She looked over to him, the flames from the fireplace still reflected in her eyes. 

“Zahn Tiri’s weakness, huh? Interesting….You mean her lust for power?” Varian guessed innocently.

“I mean her love for Demanitis,” Cassandra corrected bluntly, locking eyes on Varian’s for a moment. There was such intensity in that determined stare that it made Varian flush. Cassandra’ face was only an inch away from his now, and Varian’s heart pounded wildly in his chest as he was reminded forcefully of his captor’s dangerous, sinister beauty. She was so close now that he could smell the perfume on her neck. He waited for her to back away again, but she didn’t 

During the intense silence, which followed, Varian contemplated the implications of what Cassandra had just said. According to historical records, Demanitis and Zhan Tiri had once been passionate lovers, who worked as a team to decode the scientific and magical properties of the universe. That was until Zhan Tiri attained the power of an immortal demon and Demanitis banished her to the dimension of horrors. 

“So in this scenario… _I’m_ _Demanitis_?” Varian replied after some time had passed. Varian was pretty astute when it came to picking up on subtleties like this, so the parallel between Zhan Tiri and Demanitis’ doomed partnership, and the current arrangement between himself and Cassandra, was not lost on him. 

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“I wasn’t. It’s just that you said that Zahn Tiri’s weakness was her love for Demanitis, and then you looked at me in a way…that…that made me think, that in your mind, at least…that I’m Demanitis in this scenario?” Varian explained himself awkwardly.

Cassandra threw back her head and laughed derisively. Then, she said, with a subtle smirk, and perhaps more warmth than she had intended: “Oh, please, as if I’m foolish enough to let some scrawny little egghead nerd boy get the better of me.”

Cassandra withdrew the hot roasted rabbit from the flames of the fireplace. Then, blew on it to cool it off. A few more minutes passed in silence. Then, Cassandra withdrew the knife from her belt and cut the rabbit in half. She handed the tail end to Varian and said:

“Here. You should eat something. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”

Varian accepted the meal passively, pulling his half of the rabbit from Cassandra’s outstretched hand, then, talking a cautious bite of out the animal’s soft, moist flesh.

The two ate together in silence, while watching the crackling fireplace. 


End file.
